Sliding hopper closure discharging assembly



J. T. SMITH A ril 16, 1963 SLIDING HOPPER CLOSURE DISCHARGING ASSEMBLY 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 8, 957

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J. T. SMITH April 16, 1963 SLIDING HOPPER CLOSURE DISCHARGING ASSEMBLY 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 8, 1957 gig rial/Al I MI 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 April 16, 1963 J. T. SMITH SLIDING HOPPER CLOSURE DISCHARGING ASSEMBLY Filed Nov. 8, 1957 J. T. SMITH April 16, 1963 SLIDING HOPPER CLOSURE DISCHARGING ASSEMBLY Filed NOV- 8, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Z mi @Ww United States, Patent 3,35,517 SLIDING HOEPER CLOSURE DESCHARGKNG ASSEMBLY ames 'E. Smith, Chicago, ilk, assignor to day R. Sheesley, Winnetka, Iii. Filed Nov. 3, 1957, Ser. No. 695,25 11 Ciairns. (Ci. ld--2S2) This invention relates to improvements in hopper discharging units for a covered hopper car, which unit is located at the bottom of the hopper of the covered hopper car. This application is a continuation-impart of my co-pending application Serial No. 563,083, filed February 2, 1956.

According to the present invention, the hopper discharging unit comprises a frame, a door plate slidably mounted on said frame, and a hopper chute to which one end of the frame is secured and by means of which the whole assembly is secured to and suspended from the bottom of the hopper.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved door plate actuating means.

A second object is to provide an improved doormounting means which permits the use of a door plate formed of rolled steel plate instead of the usual casting. The use of rolled steel plate obviates the necessity of machining the edges of the door plate which edges cooperate with the ways to provide a seal.

Another object is to provide an improved construction in which the door plate is readily removable from the assembly for replacement purposes.

In connection with the primary object, the door plate actuating means comprises a rack and pinion arrangement. In the conventional construction, which is at present widely used, the rack teeth are formed on the under surface of the door plate. The pinion is mounted on a shaft which is journaled in the hopper chute at one end thereof.

In other words, in the conventional construction, the axis of the pinion is stationary, and the rack is carried on the door, whereas in the present invention, the rack is stationary and the pinion is carried on the door.

In the conventional construction, the downwardly facing rack teeth on the bottom surface of the door plate get clogged by the dirt from the road bed, and also tend to become clogged by certain types of lading during the loading and unloading operation. For instance, in the case of a cement lading, a considerable amount of cement will be carried in the air and will settle in the rack and also in the pinion. If there is any moisture on these rack and pinion surfaces, the cement will set up and clog the teeth. As a result, it frequently happens that it becomes absolutely impossible to move the plate without the application of a block and tackle or a similar device. This situation also occurs in the case of certain other types of caking ladings.

According to the present invention, I provide an open tooth rack which has been found to be exceedingly effective against clogging. In the first place, there is no bottom tooth surface against which dirt or lading can rest. In the second place, if a wetted agglomeration of cement should settle between the open rack teeth, and set up, it has been found in many instances that the movement of the pinion over the clogged rack teeth will tend to clean the same. In order to enhance this latter action, I provide hold-down means for the door plate which positively holds the pinion in engagement with the rack so that the pinion will exert sufficient force on any dirt or any agglomerations of lading as to crush the same and force it through the openings between the rack teeth. In other words, by providing the com- 2 bination of open rack teeth, and hold-down means, the rack is self-cleaning.

As a matter of fact, in many instances, small pebbles caught in the open rack will be forced downwardly through the same by the pinion.

The present arrangement also provides certain other advantages, due to the fact that two racks and two pinions are provided, each being mounted exteriorly of the frame and, in particular, exteriorly of a corresponding longitudinal frame member. In the first place, both the rack and the pinion, by virtue of location, are accessible for purposes of cleaning. In the second place, the location minimizes any binding or cocking of the door plate in its sliding movement.

Regarding the second object of my invention, a rolled steel plate is preferable to a casting from the viewpoint of lower cost and also from the viewpoint of a lower coeflicient of friction. More particularly, the surface of rolled steel plate is such that if an agglomeration of cement or other lading sets up thereon, the bond between the cement and the steel surface can be much more easily broken by application of longitudinal or shear pressure than in cases where the cement agglomeration is adhering to the surface of the casting. On the other hand, the disadvantage of rolled steel plate is that it is more subject to deformation or bending than the cast iron plate. For instance, stones and other material thrown up from the road bed will tend to dent or bend the rolled steel plate and if this occurs at the edges, it will be course be diflicult to open the door plate. According to the present invention, grooves are provided in which the door plate slides, and these grooves tend to maintain the edges of the door plate against deformation or bending.

A still further object is to provide an improved hopper discharging unit of simplified construction.

Other objects, features and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds.

With reference now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals designate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a plan view,, showing a preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical section taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a detailed section taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged section taken along line 66 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the door plate;

FIG. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken along line 88 of FIG. 1; and,

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary section similar to the view of FIG. 2 but showing a modification.

With reference now to FIGS. 1 to 3, the discharging unit It comprises a hopper chute 12, a frame 13 suspended therefrom, and a door plate 14 supported by the frame 13. The unit It) in its entirety is suspended from the car hopper 11 to which it is suitably secured.

The frame 1-3 comprises longitudinally disposed channel members and 16 which are spaced at one end by a front cross member 318, and at the other by the hopper chute 12.

Door supporting members 20 and 21 in the form of strips, are secured to and project inwardly from the inner members 15 and 16 respectively and are extended forwardly of the hopper chute 12 to provide ways on which the door plate can slide. Similarly, transverse strip members 22 and 23 are provided for supporting the front and rear edges of the door in its closed position.

Means are provided for actuating the door plate 14 for sliding movement on its ways 21 and 21.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, the door plate is provided with journals 40, preferably at its front end, which accommodate a horizontally disposed transversely extending shaft 41, having secured thereto two pinions 42. The shaft is also provided with a handle socket 43 by means of which the shaft may be rotated to actuate the door plate. The pinions 42 cooperate with two horizontally disposed longitudinally extending open tooth racks 44, preferably made of cast steel, the racks 44 having integral lugs 45 by means of which they can be welded to the channels 15 and 116, respectively, as shown in FIG. 1. The racks 44 are located at the front end of the channels 15 and 16. Thus, they are laterally displaced from the hopper chute 12, with the result that the rack teeth will not be clogged by the lading, incident to discharge. Furthermore, the fact that the racks are open tooth racks eliminates the possibility of any accumulation of any dust or dirt which would tend to clog the teeth. Thus, there will be no such accumulation as would tend to interfere with the free sliding motion of the door. In this connection also, the racks 44 and the pinions 42 may be made to fairly large tooth clearances to provide easy operation.

Tooth clearance is a source of cocking, but by locating the cooperating toothed elements 4244 beyond the confines of the door plate, rather than within the same, I have found that the extent of cocking can be cut down very substantially.

As shown in FIG. 4, both pinions 42 and the handle socket 43 are preferably secured to the shaft 41 by welds 46. Thus, both pinions are positively driven with the result that cocking is avoided, it being understood that the pinions 42 are angularly aligned with each other, and with respect to the racks 44.

In order to maintain the pinions 42 in engagement with their respective racks 44, especially in door open position, hold down members 47 are provided. The door plate 14 is preferably of rolled steel plate which may be /2 inch thick. Each journal 40 and hold down member 47 is preferably in the form of an integrally cast steel bracket 48 which is suitably secured to the front edge of the door plate 14 as by welding.

The hold down members extend underneath the door supporting members or ways 20 and 21, with the result that the parts are positively maintained in engagement to provide the self cleaning action previously described.

Means are provided to lock the door plate 14 in its closed position. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, two brackets 50 are suitably welded to channel 16, which is the outer longitudinal frame member in the right hand hopper shown. A pivoted blocking member 51 is provided with pivots 52 received in the brackets '50. Thus, the blocking member 51 is pivotally mounted so that it may be swung up over the rack, as shown in FIG. 6, into a position in which it engages one of the brackets 48 which project from the door plate 14. Thus, forward movement of the door plate is blocked.

The outer end of the blocking member 51 is provided with a pair of openings 53 which register with the openings 54 between the teeth of the open toothed rack 44. A length of sealing wire or sealing strap 55 may be looped through openings 53 and 54 and sealed by a lead collar 56 in the usual manner to indicate that the door has not been unblocked and lading removed.

It is necessary to provide the locking device only on the outer one of the two channels 15 and 16, this being the more accessible of the two.

The relatively smooth and plane surface of the rolled steel plate of which the door plate 14 is fabricated cooperates with the like surface of the rolled strip of which the longitudinal and transverse door supporting members 20, 21, and 23 are formed to provide a sealing engagement of the parts which requires no machining. Thus, a

gravity actuated seal is provided which has been found to be effective in keeping roadbed moisture from working itself through to the lading.

In order to protect the lading adjacent the fourth, or front, edge of the closure means from rain and water thrown up from the roadbed, the front wall of the hopper chute 12 is provided with a lip 25 which preferably is integral with the said front wall but disposed at a somewhat lesser angle of inclination to the horizontal. The lower corner of the lip is machined away to provide a finished sealing surface 26 of substantial width which cooperates with the upper surface of the door plate 14 to provide a clearance type seal of minimum dimensions, preferably of the order of 1 inch, or less. The upper surface of the door plate may be provided with a transverse strip 27 which engages the front surface of the hopper chute wall or lip to provide additional sealing action.

In order to better resist any deformation which would interfere with sliding movement of the door plate through the slot defined by surface 27 and the upper surface of strip 22, the side edges of the door plate are confined, for a substantial portion of their length, in grooves. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, guide strips 23 and 29 project inwardly from the side walls of the hopper chute 12 and overlie the side edges of the door plate 14.

The guide strips 23 and 29 terminate short of the rear wall of the hopper in order that rear portions of the upper surfaces of the members 20 and 21 may be exposed for purposes of cleaning. One of the problems in seating a door plate in a groove or recess is that of impacting at the rear wall. In other words, as the door is closed, any lading that may be present on the ways or door supporting surfaces will be pushed back against the rear wall and impacted, with the result that the door cannot be fully closed.

According to the present invention, there is no groove at or adjacent the rear wall of the hopper chute, with the result that any loose lading resting on the exposed surfaces of members 20, 21 and 23, may be brushed off before it is impacted.

The front edge of the door plate, as it is moved into closed position, exerts a self-cleaning effect on any lading that may have settled in the grooves underneath the guide strips 28 and 29, and pushes the same forwardly to the exposed portions of the members 20 and 21, from which it may be readily brushed. The coefficient of friction between the surface of rolled steel plate and agglomerations of cement, potash and other lading is less than that between the surface of cast iron and such agglomerations. Therefore, since the various members and strips are preferably made of rolled steel, any agglomerations that tend to set up on these surfaces will be broken away by this self-cleaning action.

Similarly, the lower rearwardly extending edge of the lip 25 exerts a scraping action which cleans the surface of the door plate 14 as it is moved into its open position.

Furthermore, the grooves or guide strips 28 and 29 cooperate with the hold-down members 47 to prevent such canting of the door during its operation as might tend to deform the lip 25 and increase the clearance of the clearance-type seal or otherwise render the same less effective.

It will be noted that there is a clearance 30 between the side edges of the door plate 14 and the channel members 15 and 16. The guide strips 28 and 29 overlie clearance 30 to provide a relatively long passageway with the result that the lading is effectively excluded therefrom.

It will be observed that the door supporting members 20 and 21, as shown in FIG. 1, terminate somewhat short of the front cross-member 18, thus providing means for disengaging the hold-down members 47 from the door supporting members 20 and 21 to permit removal of the door plate 14 in its entirety in the event that it becomes deformed or otherwise damaged. In order to prevent ina advertent removal, a lug 31 is welded to either the front crossanember 18 or to the longitudinal channel 16, or both, to block movement of the door into this released position. When it is desired to remove the door plate, the lug 31 can readily be knocked off with a hammer, the weld being light for this purpose.

The hopper chute 12 is preferably fabricated from four pieces of rolled strip which are welded together at the corners to make the rectangular-shaped hopper chute. As shown in FIG. 2, additional sloping members 32 and horizontally disposed members 33 may be transversely disposed beneath the hopper chute 12 and secured at either end to the inner surfaces of the channels and 16 to provide a continuation of the hopper chute beneath the door plate 14.

As is customary in devices of this type, suitable clip members 34 and 35 and a lug 36, shown in dot-and-dash lines in FIGS. 2 and 3, may be provided to which a discharge conduit may be removable secured.

To summarize the operation, which has been described in detail in connection with the description of the various parts and sub-assemblies, let it be assumed that the door plate 14 is in its closed position, as shown in the FIG- URES l, 2, and 6.

To open the unit 10, the sealing wire 55 is first cut, and the blocking member 51 is swung around to clear the bracket 48, thereby unblocking the door plate 14. Then a suitable handle or bar is inserted into the handle socket 43 and rotated. This causes the door to move forwardly, sliding on the ways 20, 21 until the door plate 14 is completely clear of the hopper chute 12. The steps are reversed to close and seal the unit.

The construction permits the use of the door plate 14 made from rolled steel plate which can readily be removed if damaged, but which is so mounted as to resist damage by deformation, especially when in closed position.

Furthermore, the open tooth racks 44 tend to be self cleaning as previously described, and this self cleaning action is enhanced by the hold down means 47.

The present invention provides a hopper discharge of greatly simplified construction since there are only three principal elements, the hopper chute 12, the frame 13 and the door plate 14, with the result that the entire structure may be assembled with ease and at low cost. Furthermore, the supporting frame 14 is made up, for the most part, of standard shapes, such as channels and strips, as contrasted with various prior art devices which, due to irregularity of shape, call either for the use of castings or of relatively expensive fabricated parts. The only surface which requires machining is the lip surface 26. As a result, the present invention calls for a minimum number of machined surfaces and movable parts, which feature contributes to ease of manufacture and long service life under the extremely severe operating conditions usually encountered.

Furthermore, as shown in the modification of FIGURE 9, it is possible to eliminate the machining of lip surface 26. As shown in that figure, the front wall 60 of the hopper chute 12' is provided with a lip 61 which extends horizontally rearward, thus providing a smooth surface, which is characteristic of rolled steel strip, without the necessity of machining the same. Preferably the strip which forms the front well 60 is provided with two bends or angles, 62 and 63, and this permits the lip 61 to be brought into horizontal position without too sharp an angle. In assembling the parts, the side edges of the front wall 60 are not welded at their lower portions until after the door plate 14 has been inserted. Then suitable clamp means are provided to urge either the lip 25 or 61 against the upper surface of the door plate 14 to provide the desired sealing relationship or clearance. The lower portions of the side edges of the rear wall 60 are then welded while the parts are thus held in this position.

FIGURE 9 shows a further modification in that a transverse forwardly downwardly inclined strip 64 is provided as a water shed, instead of the downwardly extending flange 65 shown in FIGURE 2. The purpose of the flange 65 or the strip 64 is to tend to divert water away from the clearance type seal which is provided at the front end of the hopper chute 12.

The simplified construction herein referred to provides a frame 13 of which the two longitudinal members 15 and 16 run the full length of the device. Thus, the front ends of the channels are cantilevered forwardly and require no separate vertical supports extending downwardly from the hopper 11. The unit as a whole can be supported solely from the lower end of the hopper, which is to say by the welds which secure the hopper chute 12 to the hopper 11, or by rivets or by a combination of both.

This is to be contrasted with the conventional type of construction now available commercially in which the door in its forward or open position is supported on rails which do not extend the full length of the device, but are merely riveted at their rear ends to the hopper chute, and are supported at their front ends by vertical supports. In this conventional construction, these separate door supporting rails are attached to the hopper chute at the time of installation with the result that problems of alignment are encountered. For instance, if frequently happens after the device as a whole has been installed, that the rails are not properly aligned with the hopper chute, and the door will wedge or bind, thus requiring removal and repositioning of the rails and vertical supports. This problem is entirely eliminated by the present construction, in which the unit 'which is sold is complete and ready for installation, and there can be no problems of misalignment of the parts.

Additionally, it can be pointed out that a simplified type of construction is obtained by having the pinions carried by the door plate 14 and the rack by the frame 13, which is the opposite of the usual type of construction. Nevertheless, the parts are so arranged that the direction of shaft rotation required to open or close the door plate is the same as that of the usual type of construction. As previously pointed out, the present arrangement materially reduces cocking and binding due to the location of the toothed elements 42 and 44.

Although only a preferred embodiment of my invention has been shown and described herein, it will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made in the construction shown without departing from the spirit of my invention as pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hopper discharging unit comprising (a) a hopper chute providing a discharge opening,

(17) a door supporting frame located beneath said hopper chute and secured thereto,

(0) a door plate slidably mounted on said frame and beneath said chute and cooperating with said chute to form a closure therefor,

(d) a horizontally disposed open tooth rack mounted on said supporting frame,

(e) a transversely extending shaft rotatably mounted on said door plate above said rack,

(f) a pinion secured to said shaft and meshing with said rack whereby rotation of said shaft will cause movement of said door plate, and

(g) hold down means mounted on said door plate beneath said shaft at a point adjacent to the engagement of said pinion with said rack and providing engagement between said door plate and frame to maintain said pinion in engagement with said rack.

2. A hopper discharging unit comprising (a) a hopper chute providing a discharge opening,

(12) an elongate door supporting frame located beneath said hopper chute and secured thereto,

(0) a door plate slidably mounted on said frame and 7' beneath said chute and cooperating with said chute to form a closure,

(d) said frame including two longitudinally disposed members which extend forwardly beyond said chute,

(e) a horizontally disposed open tooth rack located on each of said longitudinally disposed members,

(1) a transversely extending shaft rotatably mounted on said door plate and above said racks,

(g) two pinion secured to said shaft above said racks and meshing with said racks whereby rotation of said shaft will cause movement of said door plate, and

(/1) hold down means mounted on said door plate beneath said shaft at points adjacent to said longitudinally disposed members and providing engagement between said door plate and frame to maintain said pinion in engagement with said rack.

3. A hopper discharging unit as claimed in claim 2 in which said shaft is located above said door plate and extends transversely beyond both side edges thereof, said racks and pinions being located exteriorly of said longitudinally disposed members.

4. A hopper discharging unit as claimed in claim 2 in which said rack and that portion of the door supporting frame on which said rack is mounted are horizontally offset from said hopper chute, and are of a length which is at least equal to the corresponding length dimension of said discharge opening.

5. A hopper discharging unit comprising (a) an elongate door supporting frame,

([7) a hopper chute located above and secured to one end of said frame and providing a discharge open- 111g,

() a door plate slidably mounted on said frame for movement between a closed position in which it underlies and closes said hopper chute, and an open position in which it is forwardly displaced therefrom,

(d) means for operating said door plate for sliding movement, including (2) a shaft journaled in said door plate at the front portion thereof,

(1) pinions secured to said shaft and rotating therewith, and

(g) oppositely disposed open tooth racks secured to the front portion of said frame and exteriorly thereof,

(It) said pinions meshing with said open tooth racks,

(i) said frame including inwardly projecting door supporting ways, and

(j) hold down means mounted on said door plate beneath said shaft and engaging the under surfaces of said ways to maintain said pinions in engagement with said open tooth racks in order to provide a selfcleaning action for said rack.

6. A hopper discharging unit as claimed in claim 5 in which said ways terminate short of the front end of said frame to permit disengagement of said hold down means with said ways incident to removal of said door plate from said frame.

7. A hopper discharging unit as claimed in claim 6 including means removably secured to said frame to block forward movement of said door plate into a position in which said hold down means becomes disengaged from said ways.

8. A hopper discharging unit as claimed in claim 5 which includes a lip member overlying the front edge of said door plate and connected to the front wall of said hopper chute, guide strips disposed above the side edge of said plate and extending rearwardly from said lip member to provide grooves in which the side edges of said door plate are received, and a transverse door supporting strip projecting inwardly from the rear wall of said hopper chute and forming a seal with the rear edge of said door plate.

9. A hopper discharging unit as claimed in claim 8 in which said guide strips terminate short of said rear wall of said hopper chute.

10. A hopper discharging unit as claimed in claim 5 in which said door plate and said door supporting ways are formed of rolled steel plate and rolled strip respectively to provide cooperating sealing surfaces.

11. A hopper discharging unit as claimed in claim 5 which includes journals mounted on the front edge of said door plate for receiving said shaft, said hold down means being integrally formed with said journals.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 703,276 Kellogg June 24, 1902 904,213 Neikirk Nov. 17, 1908 1,122,918 Hart et al Dec. 29, 1914 1,219,737 Heilig Mar. 20, 1917 1,623,303 Burnett Apr. 5, 1927 1,807,447 Smith May 26, 1931 2,051,985 Cartzdafner Aug. 25, 1936 2,072,292 Campbell Mar. 2, 1937 2,318,763 Ditchfield May 11, 1943 2,386,702 McBride Oct. 9, 1945 2,628,573 Dorey Feb. 17, 1953 2,640,440 Dorey June 2, 1953 2,738,734 Dorey Mar. 20, 1956 2,753,815 Dorey July 10, 1956 2,791,973 Dorey May 14, 1957 2,859,707 Dorey Nov. 11, 1958 

1. A HOPPER DISCHARGING UNIT COMPRISING (A) A HOPPER CHUTE PROVIDING A DISCHARGE OPENING, (B) A DOOR SUPPORTING FRAME LOCATED BENEATH SAID HOPPER CHUTE AND SECURED THERETO, (C) A DOOR PLATE SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME AND BENEATH SAID CHUTE AND COOPERATING WITH SAID CHUTE TO FORM A CLOSURE THEREFOR, (D) A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED OPEN TOOTH RACK MOUNTED ON SAID SUPPORTING FRAME, (E) A TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING SHAFT ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID DOOR PLATE ABOVE SAID RACK, (F) A PINION SECURED TO SAID SHAFT AND MESHING WITH SAID RACK WHEREBY ROTATION OF SAID SHAFT WILL CAUSE MOVEMENT OF SAID DOOR PLATE, AND (G) HOLD DOWN MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID DOOR PLATE BENEATH SAID SHAFT AT A POINT ADJACENT TO THE ENGAGEMENT OF SAID PINION WITH SAID RACK AND PROVIDING ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN SAID DOOR PLATE AND FRAME TO MAINTAIN SAID PINION IN ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID RACK. 